Throwback Friday- Prince “When Doves Cry”

Talk about pop culture icons and you have to admit that Prince has a space all to himself. You’ve gotta have some serious game to be like 4 ft 9 in (j/k) and make girls throw their panties onstage! Back in the 80s, I enjoyed Prince, but I was never a die-hard fan like some friends I know. Over the years, I’ve really grown to appreciate his music, however. I’m glad to say that I did see him in concert about 4 or 5 years ago in Raleigh, North Carolina and homeboy put on a show! It was definitely one of the best concerts that I’ve ever seen in my lifetime even as he’s sort of fading from center stage at this point in his life.

Few artists can record music that’s timeless, and Prince is right there front and center with a select few including our recently fallen King of Pop Michael Jackson. What I think Prince has over Michael (don’t shoot me!) is a wider array of talent. I mean the man can play over 25 different instruments, he rocked a name change over to a symbol, and the world brought in the 21st century to his song “1999.”

Here are some interesting factoids I found…

The symbol to which Prince changed his name (which is best rendered as ether O{+> or O(+> in normal ASCII characters) originated in and was borrowed by Prince from ancient Europe.

[16 October 1996]. Son, with Mayte Garcia, born with the rare skull disease Pfeiffer’s syndrome and unable to breathe without a ventilator. The child was taken off life support on 23 October and died…

…One of the very few musicians who writes, produces and composes all his music himself. On most of his albums, he plays all the instruments himself, except for brass instruments, which he does not play, though he does have a backing band for concerts…

…In his An Evening with Kevin Smith (2002) (V) film, director Kevin Smith says that he learned during shooting of a documentary for Prince that he has made about 50 fully produced music videos for songs that were never released in any kind of form… (source: IMDB)

Purple Rain (1984) elevated Prince from cult hero to superstar. The movie, loosely based on Prince’s life story, was set in Minneapolis and his real-life hangout, the First Avenue & 7th Street Entry Club. Prince wrote the treatment and played the lead role of “The Kid”…The film grossed $80 million and the album, which won Prince an Oscar for Best Soundtrack, rained hits for a year. (source: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)